The perfect place to find a Podarok!

Following his success with Oxbridge Walking Tours, Andrey Pronin has added shopkeeper to his portfolio.

The 23-year-old, who has a degree in political science from Cambridge, has bought the gift shop in Bene’t Street formerly known as Arcadia and now re-named Podarok, which is Russian for gift.

He bought the business from Jane Dickens and Will Oldham, who ran it for 18 years prior to their retirement.

Hugo Lomax, 25, fellow Cambridge graduate – both men went to Fitzwilliam College, where Hugo took a degree in Anglo Saxon, Norse & Celtic studies – is managing the shop, having cut his retail teeth round the corner in Primavera on King’s Parade, where he has spent the past three years.

He and Andrey, who is Russian, did not meet at college, but when Hugo was working at Primavera and owner Jeremy Waller let Oxbridge Walking Tours use the shop’s till.

“We are hoping to expand the business,” Hugo said, “but first we will be concentrating on making this branch a real success.”

Much of the stock is sourced from local artists and craftspeople, and best sellers at the moment are locally-made leather satchels.